Talking with singers: Clare Tunney

Interview

"Mozart writes for the voice, so it feels totally open and liberating to sing. As a performer, because all the emotion is already in his music, you just need to a vessel that delivers it, which is amazingly freeing!"

Moby-Dick: "A story about obsession."

Interview

"I think Moby-Dick is ultimately about the redeeming power of friendship - and how an open heart can literally save your life. It's no accident that in both the book and the opera, Greenhorn (Ishmael) is saved from drowning by floating on the coffin on his new dear friend Queequeg, who is a 'foreigner' and a 'savage.'"

Don't miss: Hercules vs Vampires

Interview

"There will certainly be places in the work where people will laugh at things onscreen which are unintentionally funny. This is a great thing, and I want audiences to laugh if they feel inclined, I want them to cheer Hercules and to boo the forces of evil."

Talking with singers: Beste Kalender

Interview

"I know many colleagues who have met their favourite mentors, got their first connections with the Metropolitan Opera, or connected with highly regarded agents in the States during or after their performances at The Song Continues."

TOT's Candide: "It's very sincere and passionate."

Interview

"I feel the piece itself is a deep commentary on the organization of mankind, a musing on the structures we put in place to prevent chaos, and a mirror into the follies of our past and in some cases our present. It is an accounting of worth through the eyes of the innocent, when we still look for the best possible world."

Talking with conductors: Alexander Joel

Interview

"I actually started off by doing only operetta," Joel notes, insistent that learning to lead operas with a lot of rubato is the best way into the technique of conducting. "You have to know how to really control the orchestra with singers, to feel where they're going to move."

Talking with singers: Clay Hilley

Interview

"Another temporary obstacle is youth. For the longest time, the toughest thing for me was evading debt collectors long enough to absorb as much as I could about style, language, and technique to eventually earn enough coins to appease them, however temporarily. Impresarios are justifiably skeptical of 30 year old self-proclaimed "Heldentenors." It takes a while to prove yourself to the casting crowd."

Quintus 4 "has no choice but to have a unique sound."

Interview

"A themed recital can mean many things, but the program is often not tied together by the actual music. This is a little like taking an architectural tour of houses owned by people with the same surname. It might still be interesting, but it's not what we're trying to do."

Talking with singers: Clarence Frazer

Interview

"Only if you are 100% prepared can you make art, can you make music. This is where the fun is. This is where the passion is. This where the reward is. It's amazing when you know something so well, how rewarding the rehearsal and performance process will be, the discoveries you'll make, in the music, with your colleagues and with yourself."

Talking with singers: Ah Young Hong

Interview

"Honestly, I still don't think I know anything about this career. My focus is purely on the music. I'm afraid I'm terrible at giving advice about the career. Just do what you love - never mind your bills aren't paid!"